Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Aveanna Healthcare's stock has been upgraded by Raymond James Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating, with a price target of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 46.58% from its previous close.
• The stock has a current market capitalization of $1.20 billion and has seen a fifty-two week price range between $3.67 and $6.46.
• Insider selling has occurred, with notable transactions by CAO Deborah Stewart and major shareholder J.H. Whitney Equity Partners, who sold shares valued at around $4 million combined.

Aveanna Healthcare (NASDAQ:AVAH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Raymond James Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $9.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial's price target suggests a potential upside of 21.46% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AVAH. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Aveanna Healthcare from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aveanna Healthcare from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on Aveanna Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $5.50 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Aveanna Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Aveanna Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $6.25 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aveanna Healthcare has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.45.

Aveanna Healthcare Stock Up 2.3%

NASDAQ:AVAH traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $7.41. The stock had a trading volume of 417,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 503,748. Aveanna Healthcare has a one year low of $3.67 and a one year high of $7.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.56 and a beta of 1.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $4.67 and a 200 day moving average of $4.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Patrick A. Cunningham sold 18,500 shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $91,205.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 327,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,394.17. The trade was a 5.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Robert M. Williams, Jr. sold 750,000 shares of Aveanna Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.20, for a total value of $3,900,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,890,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,231,931.20. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,977,245 shares of company stock worth $37,037,197. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aveanna Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVAH. Summit Partners L P purchased a new stake in shares of Aveanna Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,477,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 103.9% in the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 664,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 338,746 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Aveanna Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,692,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 552.9% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 353,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 299,726 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Aveanna Healthcare by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 400,374 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 205,023 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.96% of the company's stock.

Aveanna Healthcare Company Profile

Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc, a diversified home care platform company, provides pediatric and adult healthcare services in the United States. Its patient-centered care delivery platform allows patients to remain in their homes and minimizes the overutilization of high-cost care settings, such as hospitals or skilled nursing facilities.